Our PR and key distribution is being handled by the terrific folks at Evolve PR.

Can you speak to comparisons to SimCity, Anno, Tropico, Planetbase, No Man’s Sky, etc …

Not specifically. Aven Colony is its own game.

We did our due diligence on all the games in the genre, as well as lots of others. But Aven Colony is very much its own game with its own style of gameplay.

We can say definitively that Aven Colony is nothing like No Man’s Sky, and not even the same genre.

What can you tell us about the multiplayer?

The multiplayer is closely modeled after the multiplayer in Fallout 4.

… that is, there isn’t any.

I’m a streamer and I DO have a key! What do I need to know? Can I start streaming now?

Yes, you can stream at any time! Some helpful guidelines to make a better stream:

Please be sure to mention that it’s a BETA and that the BETA is available on itch.io. It would also be helpful to label your streams and videos as such. Note that the itch.io beta is exactly the same version of the game as the beta keys we distributed to select streamers and YouTubers.

Be sure to play the tutorials (“Holo-Sim 1” and “Holo-Sim 2”) when starting, either during the stream or beforehand.

For the very best results when streaming, we recommend installing the game on an SSD and playing on a system with a video card with a PassMark score of 9K or higher.

We recommend starting with Vanaar, as it’s a very pretty mission and the easiest one to start out with.

Do let us know in advance if you plan to stream (8+ hours advance notice is best!) and we will try to RT from @MothershipTeam and @AvenColony to drive traffic your way. The best way to inform us is to e-mail us at info@mothership-entertainment.com

We are also sometimes available to join streaming sessions in some cases; here, too, e-mail us at info@mothership-entertainment.com to arrange this with as much advance notice as possible.

Why did you guys give the keys to streamers and YouTubers and games media FOR FREE up to 13 days before everyone else could access it? That’s unfair!

That’s the standard in our industry. Games go out to journalists, games media, streamers, and YouTubers a few weeks before the rest of the world gets to see it, so they can do reviews, previews, etc.

This has always been the way the industry works. The role of streamers, YouTubers, and games media is to help preview games and drive attention toward them. We gave a limited number of keys to our PR so that they could distribute them as appropriate to legitimate streamers / media etc.

No, itch.io is separate from Steam. If you can only play through Steam, it’s best to wait for the full launch — which will definitely include Steam! — in early 2017.

How do plants grow on Aven Prime if there’s no atmosphere?

It doeshave an atmosphere, but it’s mostly carbon dioxide and nitrogen with very little oxygen. It’s also somewhat thinner overall than Earth — a bit like the top of Mount Everest.

This means that Aven Prime’s atmosphere, while not exactly toxic, is much friendlier for plants than humans or other animals from Earth.

And all those aspects of the atmosphere mean that the air on Aven Prime requires both pressurization and increased oxygenation within a hermetically-sealed colony in order to allow humans to live normally.

welshpixie

Valve very freely let developers generate keys in bulk in order to provide them with off-site sales of the game. I’m a Steam developer myself and we’ve frequently included Steam keys with our game being sold on itch and Humble, not to mention being included in numerous bundles. It’s not something they disapprove of at all – it’s a very very standard thing for developers to do and Valve facilitate it.

welshpixie

(can’t reply directly to the latest comment for some reason) – Again, we’re not talking about giving out Steam keys *now*, but rather when the game eventually does make it on to Steam – can the people who have already bought the game, and who will buy the game before the game comes to Steam, be given a Steam key LATER when the game does release on Steam? That would not be against Steam ToS, and that method is standard practice in the industry (it doesn’t cost you anything as a developer to generate Steam keys for people who have already bought the game on another platform and it isn’t against Steam ToS).

Welshpixie: we’ve received direct clarification from Valve that we are NOT to do this. Promising Steam keys in the future to existing itch.io customers for a game not currently available for distribution via Steam would be a violation of Steam’s terms of service.

ShadowXX

For me it is only important to know whether think about becomes several languages to integrate. It is not important for me to hear a specific answer like “Yes we will integrate… (german russian, chinease or what else)”